VENUS《 FINNICK ODAIR

Chapter 4. SUGAR CUBES.

THE CAPITOL WAS FREAKISHLY BEAUTIFUL; SOMETHING FROM A BOOK THAT HAD BEEN TORN FROM ITS PAGES TO JOIN REALITY. What she had imagined of the city melted to paper ash in her hands; the sparkling grandeur was nothing alike to the skyscrapers in forgotten postcards and old photography books of the lost world she had read to death when she was younger.

Like a fish in a bowl, Edith held her face close to the glass window, observing the grand scale and wonder the city exumed. Waters spread for kilometres; the train gliding over the lakes like ice skating back home. And she couldn't even begin to comprehend the size of the skyscrapers, in all shapes and colours, reflecting the views and splendour, emmulating how a crystal would disperse a rainbow glow when placed in the sun.

It was magnificent despite how terrible it made her feel to enjoy its beauty. It was like smelling a freshly cut flower, yes it smelt heavenly, fitting perfectly in the twist of your fingers, but it wouldn't last long. Your guilt would rise as its beauty would wilt and mold in its cracked, reflective glass.

Coran seemed just as impressed, it managed to shut his mouth for once. She decided to refer to Cade by his last name when she could, to dissociate herself from the blushing boy who sat next to her when she was 10 years old. Cade was a freckled child who picked weedy flowers for his teachers, Coran was the soon to be killer.

Edith was left awake with bruised circles under her eyes. She kept waking up in a state of anxiety, no nightmare in sight, only a terrible sinking pain stabbing her heart, as if her brain was trying to tell her that there was no nightmare waiting for her in her sleep because she was living in it.

So a hazy sleep-in it was. Whether she got sleep or not was another question entirely. By the time Edith found herself changing into flowy cream cotton pants and a brown, tight tank top she scraped from the wardrobe, her stomach growled. It came as a suprise, she had felt the need to gag as she pulled on fresh clothes from the train wardrobe.

The train had now managed to speed its way inside the maze of mirrors and into the thick of it. Multicoloured people in vibrant furs, tulle and vinyls appeared grotesquely in the hall of glass. Blurred in sunny midday light, they duplicated. Their fanatic screams didn't help Edith's dizziness either. All she heard was Cecelia's screams at the reaping. Lucy's crying. Her family's terror. But maybe that was just the lack of a proper meal.

Cade and Edith were split up from their Mentors once they reached the station. Placed in separate buggys, they were driven to a large black obilisque building that seemed to continue into the clouds.

Handled by the hands of a Peacekeeper who seemed to not know how to hold his gun, Edith was shoved roughly into the hands of three Capitol citizens.

The inside of the Remake Centre was rougher than the out, appearing more alike to the warehouse Justice Building back home, with rows upon rows of sectioned off areas, stinking of rose perfume and medical grade disenfectant. Peacekeepers lined the walls.

After she changed in a small cubicle, they ushered her to a teal leather chair that smelt of lavender and medical grade cleaner.

Edith gripped her locket tightly around her neck, a comfort to feel the tin rivets and fraying ribbon against her fingertips. Something she could fathom in a plastic world.

"Hmmm she shows some promise, not as pretty as last years, we can work with it though, don't you think red would just pop on her Selenor?!" A beautiful, dark skinned lady with canary yellow hair drawn into a cube bun drawled on, her capitol accent tucked along under every vowel.

"Oh my god Citrine I know right?! Red is your colour honey, lucky your stylist has used it for your dress. But anything would be better than last years costume!" A stocky man with tattooed scales as blue as Candy's wig answered in a thickened capitol slur.